Whip Count (No. 18 in a Series) Kucinich Switches From No to Yes

Just a few days ago Kucinich said this bill was a giveaway to big corporations like Phrma, Health Care Industry–now I guess that is not a problem.
Evidently saving Obama’s butt is more important that coming up with a bill everyone can be proud of.

Dennis “no strings” Kucinich confirms that it was never about what he is but only about the price.

When you listen to Dennis Kucinich speak you get an uneasy feeling that more than a few synapses aren’t making their needed connections.
Hopefully there will be a few Democrats who will now change their vote to No seeing that Dennis is on board with a Yes vote.
Hey, if Kucinich is for it there has to be something seriously wrong with the bill.

That must have been one heck of a plane ride on AF-1.
Or either Dennis never had any principles to begin with.
Makes me admire Bart Stupak and other 3-4 prolife holdouts even more.
I pray they stick to their principles.

Former court of appeals Judge states:
Deem and Pass on healthcare, will NOT stand a legal challenge..ABC SILENT
Obama VS America

BIG SUPRISE… DENNIS IS A SQUIRREL! HE PLAYED PATTY CAKE WITH BARRY AND NOW HIS WIFE GETS A DEAL WITH MICHELLE AND BARRY GETS HIS VOTE. OBAMA IS THE DEVIL

All of the opposition to this bill is drummed up by the many many millions of dollars the health insurance lobby is spending to spread their version of the truth. Should we keep our head in the sand until healthcare costs finish wiping out the country? Wake up, the private health insurance model has not worked well for a long time. Socialism? Yeah, just like our socialist highways, police and fire departments, military, etc. Calling people names is a poor substitute for vision.

Bunch of wackos. Calm down and listen to reason, logic, and real information.
Posted by: Dan Ueda |
62.7% of physicians feel that health reform is needed but should be implemented in a more targeted, gradual way, as opposed to the sweeping overhaul that is in legislation.
46.3% of primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine) feel that the passing of health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine.
72% of physicians feel that a public option would have a negative impact on physician supply, with 45% feeling it will “decline or worsen dramatically” and 27% predicting it will “decline or worsen somewhat.
• 24% of physicians think they will try to retire early if a public option is implemented.
• 21% of physicians would try to leave medicine if a public option is implemented, even if not near retirement age at the time.

One word Ueda: spending. Check the books. Then tell me how this bill, with projected YoY growth of 8%, is scored as a deficit-reducing measure. The answer is simple: by front-loading the scoring with the medicare cut and increased taxes. However, this trick means that the steady-state operation of the bill is deficit-increasing – and that’s before you dissect the optimistic growth projections (3.5% GDP yoy) and the track record of CBO on entitlements (grossly underestimating cost, historically). I.e., despite your empty rhetoric, people have sound historical reasons to believe this new entitlement, likes it’s predecessors, will be about as deep underwater as your level of knowledge equity to ignorance debt. That’s okay – you probably went to public “skool” and don’t know nothin’ bout econ or history.

Bottom line is this: Ask yourself why politicians are willing to stick their neck out for a bill that as of right now is so politically dangerous if they did not fully believe in its long term success?
Posted by: Dan Ueda | Mar 17, 2010 1:05:21 PM
I will say the same to you as I posted yesterday. The Democrats are MORE concerned about re-election than they are the people they ‘claim’ they will be helping. Case in point: it has been touted repeatedly since the healthcare bill fiasco started that THOUSANDS of people die everyday because of lack of insurance coverage. The Democrats have had 15 MONTHS to push the bill through just as they are getting ready to do now. So, exactly how many people during that 15 MONTH time frame died because of no insurance? And why is it that the Democrats didn’t see fit to just ‘ram it through’ back then? Simple answer…they are worried about their political butts! If ‘concern’ for the sick was the main driver, don’t you think something would have been done last year? Hypocrites. They have the nerve to jump on the Republicans for their ‘death panel’ talk, yet they are willing to use ‘death tolls’ to push their agenda. Good grief. I hope every family who lost a loved one due to ‘lack of insurance’ calls the White House and asks them why they didn’t act sooner. Maybe then people will realize this IS NOT about healthcare at all, it is simply about CONTROL. Yes, there are many things within the healthcare system that need to be fixed, but this bill is NOT the answer. Actually, it will only bring on more problems in the long run.

Herb: My question to opponents of health care reform is pure and simple: Do you have any compassion for someone not as well off as you are? Sickness and the ability to pay of it are exactly that. The ability to have access to it denied are exactly that. Apparently these tea party people have no heart. Have no compassion for those in need. I do have compassion, tea partiers, something you totally lack regarding health care. Did you see that poor woman in Cleveland dying of leukemia when Obama was there?

OBAMA UPSIDE DOWN IN GALLUP; NOW MORE DISAPPROVE 46% approve.. 47& DISAPPROVE
OBAMA GOING DOWN..Media in full blown protection of Obama ..refuses to report on corruption
Court of Appeals judge: DEEM &PASS will NOT stand up to legal challenge
Obama VS America

In some of these postings you can hear the sense of entitlement, the expectation that government will have your back no matter what. We enslaved millions over decades with welfare (that you, Dems), we have medicaid, medicare, job-loss benefits, etc., etc. Without the revenue to cover all of these promises, guess what happens to future prosperity? Don’t kid yourselves thinking that the next generation (or two) of U.S. taxpayers is going to live better than the generation before them. These entitlements will ensure they don’t.

Come on Dems, let’s get this done. The same people claiming this is wrong and (socialist, lol) make sure they are there when it’s time to get medicare. What a shame that these folks hate our military so much and think they deserve better than our soldiers, not to mention our parents and grandparents get! How arrogant. Not one country that has taken this step has EVER gone back to our old antiquated way of doing things. This is about money, nothing else.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | Mar 17, 2010 1:10:04 PM
The source is inaccurate though it was cited as such by several conservative rags.
Actually, the NEJM distances themselves from the survey conducted by Medicus. LOL.
Medicus, not NEJM.
From NEJM: “The Medicus Firm, a national physician search firm based in Dallas and Atlanta, published the results of a survey they conducted with 1,000 physicians regarding their attitudes toward health reform… read their survey results at The Medicus Firm website.
The opinions expressed… represent those of The Medicus Firm only. That article does not represent the opinions of the New England Journal of Medicine or the Massachusetts Medical Society.”
If you actually want to be informed, read the NEJM itself. Some articles worth mentioning–
Medicare’s Opportunity to Encourage Innovation in Health Care Delivery
Be Not Afraid
A Lifeline for Primary Care
How to Think about Future Health Care Spending

What took him so long?
Did Dennis holdout for awhile to act like he had an ounce of integrity?
He didn’t like the bill, said it was a giveaway to Pharma, Health Industry–but voted for it anyway.
Guess what? If it failed Obama would be forced to slow down and start over.
And maybe even get a bill the majority can be proud of.

“The source is inaccurate though it was cited as such by several conservative rags.”
Yup.
Right wing blogs are reporting a press release done thru a service offered by the NEJM as coming from the NEJM.
They are also reporting on a press release by a medical head hunting firm which is trying to convey to their potential clients how “scarce” doctors will be and how IMPORTANT their services will become.
Glenn Beck telling people to buy gold may have more credibility.

“So we must throw out all opinions of anyone with a vested interest in the outcome?”
Yes vested interest in a particular outcome when doing research is generally frowned upon.
Let me guess you really believe that taste tests prove that Coke is better than Pepsi or vice versa.
“If anyone did a poll of doctors that suggested they support the garbage that is obamacare POTUS would have a news conference (no questions, please) to trumpet it”
ROFLMAO!
Yeah Obama citing polls from actual polling firms is the same thing as right wing blogs misrepresenting a source of a “poll” and uncritically repeating a commercial press release.
Man that must have been embarrassing to get exposed like that so I can understand why you’re angry.
But I have a solution….stop blindly trusting the right wing media you read. They are lying to you and now they have made a fool out of you.

Way to quote a press release from a medical headhunting firm interested in claiming there’s a scarce market for doctors and they are the ones to help.
Yet again some right wing poster here just regurgitates what they read elsewhere without any further investigation.
And you wonder why I call you guys parrots?
Posted by: Ryan C |
____________________________
And you have to notice how the Republican right has tried to position this as being from the New England Journal of Medicine . . . to give it a legitimacy it doesn’t deserve.
Is it stupidity, or malicious misuse of information?

“and btw (trying this again), did you see that video of the anti-reform types belligerently standing over and yelling at a man with Parkinson’s disease because he thinks health care reform is important?”
It was hard to watch.
I expect a soulless human being like Rush to do things like make fun of 11 year old’s who lost their mom for lack of healthcare.
To see regular folk act with such venom was disheartening.
Right wingers are ruining this country with their mantra of selfishness.

Let me guess you really believe that taste tests prove that Coke is better than Pepsi or vice versa.
________
I wouldn’t misunderestimate that possibility.
(good quip, btw)

I may not agree with Kucinich on some things.
But at least he is drawing attention to an important issue and the press is actually covering it (sort of….its still horserace coverage as opposed to a policy discussion) versus the beauty of his wife or his claims to have seen UFOs.
Posted by: Ryan C |
Just have Big Pharma scoot over a bit and there will be plenty of room for UFO boy and his alien friends in your bed right next to the trial lawyers.

“Just have Big Pharma scoot over a bit and there will be plenty of room for UFO boy and his alien friends in your bed right next to the trial lawyers.”
With all due disrespect Mr. Thompson, when will you realize that your dishonest attempts to make me feel guilty for not living up to some straw man standard of fair minded liberalism don’t phase me.
But its a nice try getting back on the horse after your earlier humiliation.

“HE ISN’T LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE HE REPRESENTS and has turned a deaf ear.
Angry American in Washington State!”
Your problem could be that Dennis Kucinich is a Congressman from OH representing the Cleveland area versus the state of WA.

Right wingers are ruining this country with their mantra of selfishness.
Posted by: Ryan C | Mar 17, 2010 3:46:11 PM
And shame on those right wingers for knowing that thousands of people die everyday due to lack of healthcare insurance, and yet don’t pass a bill that could fix that-how SELFISH!! Oh, wait, that’s the left wingers in Congress that have done that. Even with majority votes. For 15 months. Funny how the two parties seem to mirror each other. I wonder who Obama sees in the mirror knowing that by not passing his illustrious healthcare monstrosity, he has allowed THOUSANDS of people to die because they didn’t have health insurance. I would think he would see a hapless leader, full of hypocrisy, and worried more about the re-election of his party members than those who died because they didn’t have healthcare insurance. The only thing worse than being selfish is being a hypocrite. Not to mention, using sick people and charts showing the ‘number of dead due to lack of insurance’ to push an agenda that could have been passed already to help those same people (according to the left), is walking a thin line between selfishness AND hypocrisy.
I happen to be a conservative, and I donate money to many children’s charities, including St. Jude’s. I have so much compassion for those kids! Do I donate loads of money? No. I, unfortunately, don’t have loads of money. But, I’m doing something. I COULD, however, just wait until one of them passes away, get behind a podium and scream at people about what should have been done to save them, without doing anything myself. That would be no different than what has happened in this WH and Congress over the past year.
My point is this: if it takes 15 months, backroom deals, TV appearances, phone calls, meetings, traveling to different cities, arm twisting and so on JUST to pass a bill that supposedly helps Americans, the problem isn’t with the Republicans, it’s with the party who is trying to push it. I think there are other ways to fix the healthcare system, and I agree with those members of the House and Senate who have said to implement things a step at a time. The bill(s) is out of control with too much spending at a time when we can’t, too many things that haven’t been explained, too many gray areas as to how it will be funded. Everybody needs to just stop, take a breath, LISTEN to the American public and put our thoughts and ideas in, THEN address these concerns with legislation in a step by step process. That hasn’t been done. What HAS been done is an expose of what is messed up in DC. It’s all about them, and if you think it’s not, you need to get your head out of the sand.

“And shame on those right wingers for knowing that thousands of people die everyday due to lack of healthcare insurance, and yet don’t pass a bill that could fix that-how SELFISH!!”
See now Shoe is starting to get it.
He is slowly realizing that the right wing stands for nothing and is using him.
Good for you Shoe!

“I happen to be a conservative, and I donate money to many children’s charities, including St. Jude’s. I have so much compassion for those kids! Do I donate loads of money? No. I, unfortunately, don’t have loads of money”
Bless you for donating what money you can.
Sometimes it is easier (and for myself at least more rewarding) to donate ones time when money is tight.

I expect a soulless human being like Rush to do things like make fun of 11 year old’s who lost their mom for lack of healthcare.
To see regular folk act with such venom was disheartening.
Right wingers are ruining this country with their mantra of selfishness.
Posted by: Ryan C | Mar 17, 2010 3:46:11 PM
___________
I agree with you. Remember 12 y.o. Graeme Frost and his family. They had the nerve to advocate for SCHIP and the conservatives became rabid. It was stunning it was so vicious and cruel.
I tried to post what one conservative blogger posted about the guy with parkinson’s and it wouldn’t post as it was vulgar and cruel.
I’m tired of the self-centeredness. And the cruelty.

“Actually Dennis K. and I agree on the same solution.. make Medicare available to EveryONE.. this is the easiest and fastest (and probably in line budget wise.. for at least a few years)…”
I also agree with this.
Posted by: Ryan C |
Then why do you keep waving the pompoms for the current bill which will ensure that it never happens? Were you bought off, like your boy Dennis?

Not to mention the fact that it has already been tested in court, and upheld.
Posted by: Flash Override | Mar 17, 2010 4:34:29 PM
Right. Not to mention that.
See Norm Orenstein’s post on the hypocrisy regarding all of this.

They are going to bypass the constitution and pass it without a vote by the House. People will respond and say others have done this before while ignoring it was NEVER done on such a big bill and on a bill that a MAJORITY of this nation’s citizen’s oppose. Not even liberal polls can find a majority supporting this bill. You will soon pay taxes to fund other’s abortion’s… just stating the facts. Liberals argue over worthless and pointless rhetoric while ignoring that most American’s oppose this… bottom line. I was pro-Obama at first but that lasted merely 6 months and now I realize permanently that the GOP is the ONLY party that listens to and respects the people!

So does Kucinich flip flopping surprise anyone? Isn’t he that eccentric ultra-liberal who always runs for President and gets less than 1% of the vote? This is no surprise and may hurt the dems more than it helps. It won’t come to a vote anyhow as Pelosi and Obama are too weak to get a majority of the House therefore they will bypass the Constitution and “pass” it anyway. Ironically Obama campaigned on the promise of “courage” and by ignoring the majority of American’s who oppose this bill and bypassing the Constitution he is doing EVERYTHING but show courage.

“I was pro-Obama at first but that lasted merely 6 months and now I realize permanently that the GOP is the ONLY party that listens to and respects the people!”
Wow that lie tops them all.

They are going to bypass the constitution and pass it without a vote by the House.
_____________________________________
Nonsense. Anything passed will be done by the rule of law.

“No. If they pass this bill it will NEVER happen but you just sit back and let Nancy and Harry do your thinking”
You are aware of how our government works right?
That we elect representatives to Congress and the White House that we feel come closest to what we want in terms of legislation.
The Democrats come much closer to what I want in terms of healthcare reform.
And I have added my voice to those who have called and written their representatives to state what they want to see in health care reform.
My Republican Congressman is not a fan ;-)